Polevik

Polevik by Ivan Bilibin

Polevik in Slavic mythology are field spirits that appear as a deformed dwarfs with different coloured eyes and grass instead of hair. They appear either at noon or sunset and wear either all black or all white suits. According to local beliefs they lead wandering people in a field astray, give them diseases or ride them over with their horses if they are found asleep.

If a person falls asleep on the job after drinking, the Polewiki might murder them. Appeasing the Polewiki requires two eggs, a rooster, a toad, and a crow placed in a ditch when no one is looking.

In the northern parts of Russia they had no Polevik, but a Poludnisa, 'Poluden' meaning 'noon'. A tall, beautiful girl dressed in white. She enjoyed pulling the hair of peasants working in the midday. She also helped little children to get lost in the cornfields.

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